R. S. V. P.
Abigail (Vol. iv., p. 424.; Vol. v., p. 38.).
—We are told in No. 115. that Abigail was a handmaid. The Bible, however, tells us, that she was the wife of Nabal, a rich man, as I pointed out in a letter which has not been printed. Speaking to David, no doubt, she repeatedly uses the common phrase in the Bible, "thine handmaid," which would equally prove that the Virgin Mary was a servant.
C. B.
Moravian Hymns (Vol. iv., p. 502.; Vol. v., pp. 30. 63.).
—With regard to Moravian hymns, it would be very valuable to know whether the little book by Rimius, London, 1753, is really honest, which contains such shocking and inconceivable extracts from them. It is a translation from a Dutch book by Stinstra.
C. B.
Miscellaneous.
NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.
When we consider the popularity attached to the illustrious name of Humboldt, and the great interest excited by the publication of his travels, we scarcely think Mr. Bohn is doing himself justice by including the Personal Narrative of Travels in the Equinoctial Region of America during the Years 1799-1804, by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland; written in French by Alexander von Humboldt: translated and edited by Thomasina Ross, of which the first volume is now before us, in his Scientific Library. His doing so will have a tendency to discourage its perusal by many readers who, having no claim to be considered scientific, will be deterred from opening the pages of a book which, had they met with it in the Standard Library, they would have read and re-read with all the interest which Humboldt's power of contemplating nature in all her grandeur and variety, and of recording the impressions produced by such contemplations, can never fail to excite. We hope this brief notice may be the means of recommending this valuable work to the general reader; to the scientific one it has been so long known, as to render any such recommendation not at all necessary.